S&P 500 Hits Record Close and Notches Best Start to the Year Since 2019
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each capped off a strong first quarter on Thursday with another record close.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 47 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 was up 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1%.
The Dow rose about 5.7% this quarter, marking its best first quarter performance since 2021, when it rose 7.8%. The S&P rose more than 10%, locking in its best first quarter since 2019, when it rose 13%. The Nasdaq rose more than 9%, but couldn’t top its 16.8% gain from the first quarter of 2023.
The 2-year Treasury yield hit 4.618%, while the 10-year yield was up to 4.192%.
Thursday marked the end of the week, month, and quarter for the big three indexes because U.S. equity and bond markets will be closed for Good Friday.
That said, market observers will be paying close attention to Friday’s personal consumption expenditures price index. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will also appear at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy Conference for a moderated discussion.